I opened my eyes. I felt refreshed. It was the first time in a while that I had slept properly without any worries.
I got out of my room and noticed that Juta and Hboy weren't there. 'They must be eating already.'
The key Boss gave me was for my small room, as I figured, but I didn't feel the need to lock it.
I studied our 'apartment'. It had white walls. Right at the entrance, there was a big mirror with a wardrobe. A little further away was the bathroom. At the other side there were the three doors leading to our personal spaces.
I left the apartment.
I had to ask a guy to help me find the dining room. Apparently, the big table I saw the day before was mainly used during parties.
After we made our way through a few halls, the big house started to feel more like a mansion. There was no way I could remember all those halls and where they were leading. Most were decorated with statues and paintings. Some had big wooden doors, while others just led to more halls. It felt like I was navigating a big labyrinth.
"Is this guild a strong or popular one? I mean, how can you afford such a mansion?" I asked the guy walking with me.
"Yes, the leader used to be the boss' father. He died and left him in charge. Apparently, his dad was a very powerful mage. But don't worry, we still have enough strong mages," he answered.
We soon got to the dining room. I was expecting it to look like any other dining room, but I was wrong.
The room was big, with colored banners on the walls and large chandeliers on the ceiling. It was all made of wood, like most of the mansion. It had a big glass wall, revealing the beautiful landscape outside.
"Wow! I could sit here all day!" I said, mostly to myself. I even forgot to thank the guy for helping me.
It was beyond my imagination.
"Glad you like it," I turned around to see Hboy. He pointed towards a table near the glass wall. "Let's go." As we got there, we were greeted by Juta, who had already gotten his food.
Hboy turned to me. "I haven't gotten my food yet, so let's go together."
"Sure," I replied.
On the other side of the dining room, there was a wooden table with a bunch of books on it. "These books are the menu. You can get whatever you want," Hboy said.
He started looking through the book. There were so many dishes I had never heard of, so I decided to stick with something I knew of. Steak. I had only had steak a few times before, but it was one of the tastiest things I had ever eaten.
The moment i thought about it, the steak appeared on a plate instantly, freshly cooked. I wasn't that surprised anymore. We returned to our table and started to eat. The steak tasted so good, it made me forget about why I was there.
It felt like I was in heaven.
As we were eating, Juta, who I figured was the quiet type, unexpectedly spoke. "I think that if we are going to work together, we should know each other."
"Mhm," Hboy said without taking his eyes away from his plate. I nodded.
"Alright, as you know, my name is Akira. My family died in an accident a few years ago, so I don't remember much about them. As for me... umm... I am... uhh... curious. The reason I came here is to get stronger and have a new home," I said.
Juta was looking at me the entire time. His green eye was scary for some reason. "You know pretty much everything there is to know about Hboy. Except that when he's eating, he won't participate in any sort of discussions. And he is too kind sometimes," Juta said.
He looked at Hboy, who indeed seemed to be in another world. I wanted to ask them why they were two in the team, but for some reason, I couldn't. I hoped he would bring it up by himself.
"My name is Juta, homeless and no parents. I lost my eye a few missions ago. That was mostly because we never had a third teammate. That is about all," Juta said. I nodded. "Nice to meet you."
We ate in silence as neither I nor Juta were as talkative as Hboy. After a while, a girl came next to our table. "Can I sit here?"
"Sure," I said without taking my eyes off my food.
"What team are you on?" she asked.
"We are on team seven," said Juta.
I immediately turned towards the girl. 'How did she make Juta say a full sentence?'
She was taller than me, with long and weird hair. It was violet mixed with black, but I doubted it was dyed. She was pretty cute, so I decided to try and join the conversation.
"Umm, hello. My name is Akira. May I ask what team you are on?"
"She is on team two," said Juta. I frowned. 'What's up with this guy?'
Then I understood.
I smirked at him, trying to indicate that I figured out what he was up to, but he ignored it.
"Yes, I am from team two. My name is Hana. You must be the new guy Boss brought in yesterday. Nice to meet you," the girl smiled at me. That made me nervous, so I quickly turned my face towards my plate.
The truth was that no girl had ever really spoken to me. I was that type of weird guy who would fall for anyone that talked with him.
I continued to eat in silence while Hana and Juta were talking about all sorts of things. I didn't really pay them much attention, though.
Suddenly, we could hear several footsteps. I saw on the other side of the room several people standing up and heading towards the exit.
"Looks like team one and Boss are finally going," said Hana. "Going where?" I asked. "Team one was supposed to go on a very important mission to the border of the eastern area, but it got delayed a few times."
"Is someone attacking us? If so, why has it been delayed?" I asked, although I wasn't all that interested. If it were up to me, someone taking over the eastern area might have provided a chance for me to go beyond the borders without losing my life.
"That information is limited to team one members," said Hana.
"Well, whatever," I said, figuring that I wouldn't get any more information.
After we were done eating, Hana stood up. "Alright, you have about an hour before training starts. Take care and don't be late!" she said as she got up and left.
'Surprisingly', Juta became silent again. "So you like her?" I asked him with a smirk. He looked at me with a sad face. "Yes."
Taken aback by his honesty, I decided against making fun of him.
"Why do you make it so obvious?" He scratched his head. "I don't know how to make her notice me. She is nice like that with everyone."
"Ahhh, this was so tasty! Why do you both look so depressed?" I heard Hboy, who had just finished eating.
I stood up. "Hboy, can we meet here in an hour so you can show me where the training hall is?"
"Sure thing."
"Alright, I'll get going." He seemed confused, but I ignored it and left the dining room.
I decided to explore the labyrinth of halls, trying to remember the way I took so that I would be able to get back and meet with Hboy. After a few minutes, I stumbled upon a double door that was open. It led to a garden.
I wasn't really sure that aimlessly wandering around the hallways was going to help me in any way, so I decided to spend my time taking a walk outside. The garden was beautiful. As I got out, I noticed a long footpath made out of a beautiful white material.
I couldn't tell what it was, but it looked like some kind of stone. Here and there, a few benches were built, as well as lanterns placed on wooden blocks. On both sides, there was a big garden with all sorts of flowers that I was seeing for the first time, and a lot of trees.
At some point, I even noticed a pool, although it looked like it hadn't been used in a while. I started to admire everything while I was walking.
For the first time in my life, I actually admired something.
Before that, I had never paid enough attention to anything, just annoying people and getting out of trouble. That was all I ever did. I got lost in thought and was lucky to find a small clock tower. Otherwise, I would have completely forgotten about the fact that I had training to do.
Luckily, the garden wasn't that far from the dining room, so I managed to remember the way back.
As I got there, I saw Hboy and Juta sitting at the same table. "Hey, I'm back," I told them, wondering if they hadn't left the table all that time.
Hboy stood up. "Alright, time to go."
Hboy was leading the way, as if he knew the way better than anyone else. Juta and I were following him. At some point, Juta turned towards me and whispered, "He doesn't know. Please don't tell him." I nodded. He was talking about Hana, but I couldn't understand how they were teammates if they weren't even sharing their secrets.
'I am one to talk here,' I silently sighed. They didn't really know anything about me, and I didn't know anything about them. Going on missions together could be difficult.
Soon, we were in front of a big door. It looked more like a gate than a door, and it was open.
We made our way into a room bigger than any room I had seen in the mansion until that point. On our way there, Hboy said that people fight real duels there, as the room is made of a kind of material that was indestructible, although I had my doubts.
However, that was all. It was just one big empty room. I felt kind of disappointed.